Three Days at Sea
How wonderful to have three days at sea. The weather was
perfect and we enjoyed every minute of it. Of course, this meant we had lots of
time to play bridge. Each afternoon at 2 pm we met at the card room and had a
duplicate game. Our bridge directors Patti
Lee and Marti Miller are top class.
Once we entered the Amazon River, life became very interesting.
First, King Neptune showed up to initiate the Pollywogs who had never crossed
the Equator.
Ice Caring of Eagle by the Pool
At the Equator, the rainbow goes around the sun!
The weather was outstanding, with high temps and moderate
humidity.
The mouth of the Amazon is incredibly wide and the landscape
very flat. We began 2 days of a journey
that was so interesting. Because there are no roads, the only transportation is
by boat. Our ship seemed to attract so many small boats and dug out canoes that
would come out to greet us. The Amazon
River is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by water
flow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers. Its
width varies between 1.6 and 10 km at low stage, but expands during the wet
season to 48 km or more.
Natives coming out to greet our boat as we travelled along the river
Life on ship, while at sea, is fun and interesting. At noon,
they had themed lunches by the pool. It is rather sad to see the people who
spend all their time in the sun. They
come in all shapes and sizes really don’t care how much sun they absorb. I
guess the free alcohol probably has a bit of influence! They had an ice carving demonstration by the
young man who does all the carvings on the ship … from the ice carvings, to
vegetables, fruits and fancy breaks.
Quite a talent.
December 4 … Santarem, Brazil
This probably has to be my most memorably birthday. We docked early in the morning and set off
for our various shore excursions. Eric did
a jungle trek, which did not interest me in the least. I did a tour of Santarem
and it had to be the best shore excursion I have ever done. It was so nice that
my friend Pat, who we have done three cruises with, came along.
Santarem is a city in the state of Para in Brazil and is an
important regional market center in Lower Amazonia located midway between the
larger cities of Belem and Manaus. The economy is based on agriculture, cattle
and mining. Its population is about the same size of Halifax (200,000) and it
the beginning point of the Pan American highway which extends south for many
thousands of km. Only 150 of the highway is paved and the rest is a combination
dirt roads and unpassable roads. A huge road rally is held yearly on this
stretch of highway.
We did a tour of the city, which involved much more than
expected. The busses were not air conditioned as air conditioning really is not
a luxury in the city. The people have adapted to the hot, humid
temperatures. It was very hot and sunny
there, but were okay. I love the heat!
Our tour took us through the main road along the coastal
market in the city and we stopped to tour a catholic church and small museum.
We were fortunate to be able to see the meeting of the two rivers, the black
and white rivers which flow side by side. The Amazon’s milky colored water
carried sediment from the Andes in the East, while the Tapajos’s water is
somewhat warmer and has a deep-blue tone. This phenomenon is called “The
meeting of the waters” by the locals.
The meeting of the waters
Next we drove through the city and out into the countryside
to visit a farm. This farm area represented the life of the farmers in this
area; including fruit, agriculture and all the food production for living. We met the owner of the property who was 73
years old and had 11 children.
Owner of rubber tree .... 73 years old with 11 children
It was a wonderful birthday and we ended it with supper at
Prime 7 with our good friends, Pat and Gordon Gray from Richmond Hill, Ontario.
Next ….. Boca Da Valeria, Brazil!
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